English Edit

Etymology Edit

From Old French géométrie, from Latin geōmetria, from Ancient Greek γεωμετρία (geōmetría, geometry, land-survey), from γεωμέτρης (geōmétrēs, land measurer), from γῆ (, earth, land, country) + -μετρία (-metría, measurement), from μέτρον (métron, a measure).

Doublet of gematria.

Pronunciation Edit

  • (US) IPA(key): /d͡ʒiˈɑm.ə.tɹi/
    • (file)
  • (UK) IPA(key): /d͡ʒiːˈɒm.ɪ.tɹi/, /ˈd͡ʒɒm.ɪ.tɹi/

Noun Edit

geometry (countable and uncountable, plural geometries)

  1. (mathematics, uncountable) The branch of mathematics dealing with spatial relationships.
    • 1925, René Descartes, “The Geometry of Rene Descartes”, in David Eugene Smith, Marcia Latham, transl., [1637, La Géométrie], Cosimo Classics, published 2007, page 2:
      ANY problem in geometry can easily be reduced to such terms that a knowledge of the lengths of certain straight lines is sufficient for its construction.
  2. (mathematics, often qualified in combination, countable) A mathematical system that deals with spatial relationships and that is built on a particular set of axioms; a subbranch of geometry which deals with such a system or systems.
    • 1975 [Addison-Wesley], Eugene F. Krause, Taxicab Geometry, 1986, Dover, page 64,
      Entire new geometries are also suggested by real-world cities.
    • 2004, Judith Cederberg, A Course in Modern Geometries, Springer, page 1:
      Finite geometries were developed in the late nineteenth century, in part to demonstrate and test the axiomatic properties of completeness, consistency, and independence.
    • 2006, Mark Wagner, The Geometries of Visual Space, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, page ix:
      Previous theorists have often tried to test whether visual space is best described by a small set of traditional geometries, such as the Euclidean geometry most of us studied in High School or the hyperbolic and spherical geometries introduced by 19th-century mathematicians.
  3. (countable) The observed or specified spatial attributes of an object, etc.
    • 2003, Matt Welsh, Running Linux, page 74:
      Also, certain SCSI controllers need to be told where to find drive geometry in order for Linux to recognize the layout of your drive.
    • 2018 March 14, Roger Penrose, “'Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking – obituary”, in The Guardian:
      He was extremely highly regarded, in view of his many greatly impressive, sometimes revolutionary, contributions to the understanding of the physics and the geometry of the universe.
  4. (algebraic geometry, countable) A mathematical object comprising representations of a space and of its spatial relationships.

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